Combined dropping board and roost



Aug. 21, 1923.

M. C. RUSSELL COMBINED DROPPING BOARD AND BOOST Filed April 20, 1923 Q thine/1 iatented A 21 gzg 1 i messes g ace c1 1 nirssnnn, ,or Assiznra,"trionreiinl Q "o'onisinnnjnsorrrno BOARD Ann -noose!) i To all whom-hit iina concerin-ji;

.Be it known thaa l, MoirrC. Russian, a citizen of the United States, residing at As,-

syria, in th county o f'Barry and State of occupied in a chicken house. Another ob-Q l i H A jectisthe provision insucha ideviceof a pivoting and-t lting drop-p ng board, which may be more-d into anrinclinedposition by Y an attendant; so that the space beliow itniay be-inade available; for scratching .V'P'QVIPOSES,

nd which may be returned to its normally useful position. by the chicllrenswhen they go to roost. Another ob ect of the lnvent on s the product on of an art cle QfClllCkSn house equipment, which will be economical ofthe space occupied, which may be easily moved rrom place to place, and which may be read: ily cleaned. 1 7

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter appear in the following description and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims. J

Like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several figures of the drawings, in which" 7 Figure 1 is a perspective showing my invention in its normally useful position,

Figure 2 is a section through the same while in this position, and K Figure 8 is a similar section with the drop ping board in its position to permit the use H the cfolfThese two elements will now-bedescribed. in recital; of their" con-f7 f to a 'combined joint 'use will be given.

the appended claim'slwithout departing from the-spirit of the ,invention. W p i h iy nvention may? be said tocompriseasupporting framework and dropping board carrying perchesjhiouhted iiisaid framework in a pivotaland tilting-manner.

detail, after which a p The supporting. fra neworlrhas a'liback, 1:0: to the ends of which standardssll are-suit ably secured; Tofthe sack and standards are secured the forwardly projecting footpor tions- 12 j, It, fwill be understood thatjpthe lower edgeslof theiback andfootfportions are adapted-to rest upon {the floor of a 7 chicken house or the like, and constitute the base of the supporting framework of my invention; Suitablysecuredto theends cf each thefootfportions are-uprights 131 andel i, which are joined at their upperendsm byptlre short connector 15'.1;;Atjthg pp be rigidly connected together to constitute I I board androost Pivoted to he Betweenithe lower ends of these stirrups the connector its la ses; stirrup 17 designed to swingiin the plane of and between the two uprights 13 and 14. 1

dropping board 18 is pivoted'as at 19. The 4 dropping board carriesfa'series-of perches or roosts 20, 20, preferably connected by strips 21, which in turn are hingedatthe back to the droppingboardcsothat the roost may be' lifted from the dropping board when it is desired to clean the same, At the forward end of the dropping board is a gutter 22, in

which the droppings which have accumuk lated may be drawn, and "an opening23 is provided, preferably centrally, for the purpose of removingsaid droppings from the gutter into a receptacle for disposal.

The operation of my invention will now be described, reference being had to Figure 2, in which the'device is shown 111 its normal or useful position, and to Figure 3, in

fwhich the" device is shown in its idle position. [After the chickens have left the roost in the morning, the droppingboardmay be V cleaned, as hereinbefore described, by lifting v 7'5 end'of the standard a 'short cross piece or stop 16, "Spit w ll be. understood that all of the parts justdescribedare designedto 'the'supporting framework for the dropping thefroosts and drawing the droppings into the gutter 22 and through the opening 28 into any suitable receptacle. The roosts are then replaced, and. the board'isdrawn forward slightly, sulficient to remove its 'rear edge from the uppe'redge or" the back 10. when the rear portionof the droppingboard will be lowered until it rests upon the floor of 'the chicken house in closeproxiinity to the lower edge of the back 10. This is accomplished by locating the pivots 19 so that there will be slightly greater weight to the rear thereof than forward. In'its'descent vthe board will be guided .by the standards 11. The device willthenbe in the position shown in FigureB, where the front edge or r the dropping board is shown elevated above the floor, and the space beneath thedropping board'made' available for scratching purposes for the chickens V Inthe evening, when the chickens go'to roost, several of them will first-locate upon a t-he roost or perch marked 20, it being the instinct ofchickens to seek the highest point they can reach when roosting. The weight of these chickens will cause thefront endoi tne dropp ng board to be depressed and the rear edge elevated, and when the rear edge ,of the dropping board is lifted sulficrently to come into contact Wlththe crosspieces 16,

- will conie to rest except for a slightb ackward n oveinent. This backward movenaent s will cause the rear edge of the" dropping board to overlie the upper edge ofthe back w have advanced from the roost 20 to those at 10 and to rest thereon when thechickens the-rear'of the dropping board. 1

It W111 be seen that I. have provided a combined droppingrboard and roost, which is very economical of the; floor space in the chicken house.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

'1--. In a; combined" dropping board and roost, a support comprising a pair of up: rights, a droppingboard pivotally mounted between?saidv uprights, and a} supportnfor Z movable toward and from said back,-'wherev by its rear edgemay be brought to rest upon the npper edgeof saidback or upon' the 3. In a combined dropping board and d roost, a supporting frameworkcomprising' a f back board and foot portions secure'd'together, uprights from said foot portions connected together at their upper ends, stir rups pivotally suspended from theconnect 1 ed ends of. said uprights, and a" dropping boardlpivoted' to the slower endof saidstirrups and movable so that its rear edge inay'rest'npon the 'upper edge of the back board or upon the floor. i

4; In a; combined dropping. "board and roost, a siipporting" framework" comprising aback and uprights, a" dropping board, means for suspending: said dropping board from said uprights togiveto said dropping board a compound pivotal inovenient, and V 7 means for limiting the pivotal movement of the rearedge of said dropping board.

IntestirnonyfwhereofI aflixmv signature.

r v Mo'TT RUSSELL. 

